The demand for pet care equipments is on the rise. Pet owners face persistent problems of caring for their pets and feeding and keeping them entertained while they are not at home. It is believed by observation that household pets, namely dogs, cats and other small animals get frustrated due to boredom especially in the absence of their masters. As a consequence, the pets chew on furniture, shoes etc. and destroy them. Pets also tend to be hyperactive when the owners return home. In some cases, pets do not want to eat due to this inactivity and expect the owners to feed them personally. The solution to this would be to keep the pets engaged during these times.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,374 discloses a device designed to throw tennis balls and have a pet fetch the ball to keep the pet entertained. The machine launches the tennis ball automatically once activated and the dog is trained to bring back the ball to the machine. The machine could launch the next ball automatically, upon receipt of the pervious ball, and the cycle continues. This device has to be manually activated, with or without a remote, and the owner of the pet needs to be present for the continuation of this play. Reinforcement for the dog to play with is machine can only be accomplished manually i.e. the master providing a treat with his hands or by petting the pet. Hence, there is no reinforcement for the pet to continue to play without the master. If the master is not present the pet is very likely to quit playing as there is no treats or petting available as a reward for the retrieval of the ball, by the pet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,690 titled discloses a ball with a hollow interior and a functionally solid geometric form that is projected from the inner core to the outside provides for the dispensing of treats at random when the rolling toy is rolled. This random behavior of the ball will release the treat randomly depending on the shape and texture of the treat. The random nature of this behavior would let the pet roll the ball until all such treats have been dispensed and there by ending the play time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,061 discloses a device that may be made of different shapes but provides for pets to access the interior and there by gain access to various treats within the device. The depth of the treat location within the toy and the access difficulty would determine the location of the quality of treats the pet would prefer. This would keep the pet occupied for duration of time to gain access to its favorite treat or force the animal to quit reaching for the harder access areas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,657 discloses a motorized pet food feeder having a food storage bin with a top and a bottom, the bottom having an opening. A bowl with a back, front, and a bottom is provided which has a housing extending from the back of the bowl. A motor is mounted to the housing that has a rotating shaft, and an auger is mounted to the rotating shaft. The pet food feeder is adapted to be used with various timing and sensing devices that control the actuation of motor and the duration of actuation, thereby controlling the amount of food transported by the auger to the bowl.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,496 discloses a treat dispensing toy consisting of a gate like structure that can open and close and hence the treat is dispensed. The manipulation of the toy and or various gates to release the treats can also provide feedback by a sound generating device. This keeps the animals occupied to play with the toy and obtain the treat if they are smart and are trained to perform the sequence of actions to gain egress to the treat. If the toy is made of one gate it would be too easy and if it was made with multiple gates it would be hard to train the pet. However the level of difficulty is reduced once the pet is trained and then the sequence of accessing the treat is preprogrammed (automatic) and the treat is accessed by the pet in a short duration. With this the pet will loose its interest to continue to play after the said treat is dispensed.
U.S. Published Application No. 2004/0182326 discloses an apparatus for feeding solid/liquid food for the pet. U.S. Published Application No. 2005/0066905 describes an automated way for feeding pets from the rotating food bowl. A timing mechanism controls the rotation of the bowl and aids in feeding the pet easily. U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,702 also provides for a similar device with different mechanics. Although both devices address feeding the pets at different time both devices do not address the stress experienced by the pet when the owner is not present.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,258 discloses a treat dispensing pet toy and training device consisting of a container with pet food or treats for interactive play with the owner of the pet. This toy could dispense treat and the treat is visible to the pet, motivating the pet to play with the owner to gain access to the treat. This toy however cannot be used without the owner's presence to provide for the treat manually. Hence, this cannot be used when the pet owner is not present and does not server the purpose of keeping the pet occupied when the pet owner is not present.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,916 discloses a toy dispenser that dispenses toys at random or pre-programmed intervals. Dispensing of these toys can be accompanied by odor from an odor generator, vibration from a vibration generator, lights and or sound. This toy dispenser presumes that the pet would be content playing with different toys at different times and hence the pet is kept simulated during the absence of the owner.
Nevertheless, these devices do not overcome the underlying concept of training and entertaining the pet to keeping them engaged and unaware of the absence of their masters for long durations. These devices also do not address the boredom of repeated use of the said devices and they do not provide for continuous reinforcement for the pet to continue to play over a long period and hence the need for development of a new device.